Automatic analyzer

ABSTRACT

An automatic analyzer in which a suitable transmission destination remote from a body of the automatic analyzer is selected in accordance with the contents of to be transmitted and the contents are transmitted to the transmission destination; a suitable operation control instruction is received from a suitable person on duty; and a suitable process is carried out to make it possible to improve analysis efficiency.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

The present invention relates to an automatic analyzer for analyzingblood, urine, and so on.

As an example of conventional automatic analyzers, there is an automaticanalyzer described in JP-A 4-1570. In the conventional automaticanalyzer, the automatic analyzer is formed so that occurrence ofabnormality is transmitted to an alarm reception notification meansarranged in a remote place to thereby be notified to an operator or thelike in the case where any operational abnormality has occurred when theautomatic analyzer is in an unmanned operation without supervision ofany operator or the like. In this manner, the operator or the like cantake measures properly even in the unmanned operation of the automaticanalyzer when operational abnormality has occurred in the automaticanalyzer.

The following means are examples of remote information communicationmeans at the time of abnormality in the conventional automatic analyzerthough the following means are not applied to automatic analyzers.

Firstly, a building remote supervising system has been described in JP-A2-52593. In the system, a building equipment supervising apparatustransmits a signal indicating the name of a building and the contents ofabnormality to a wireless apparatus located in a remote place whenabnormality has occurred in equipment of the building. The building nameand the contents of abnormality are displayed by the wireless apparatus,so that a person in charge of maintenance carries out a suitableoperation in accordance with the contents displayed.

Secondly, a process supervising apparatus has been described in JP-A59-109992. In the apparatus, an oscillation signal from an oscillator istransmitted to a receiver located in a remote place when a failure hasoccurred in a process equipment. Upon reception of the oscillationsignal, the receiver generates a reception sound so that a person incharge of maintenance recognizes the occurrence of failure from thereception sound.

Thirdly, a remote alarm notification apparatus in automatic operationsystem supervision has been described in JP-A 57-120115. In the alarmnotification apparatus, when an alarm signal is generated from anautomatic operation system, a command corresponding to the alarm signalis read from a storage device. The command contains a voice signalexpressing an alarm in speech, and a signal indicating the telephonenumber of a liaison place. The telephone circuit is connected to thetelephone number of the liaison place, so that an alarm voice based onthe voice signal through a telephone to which the telephone circuit isconnected is transmitted to a person in charge of supervision.

Fourthly, an abnormality notification apparatus has been described inJP-A 4-367098. In the apparatus, telephone numbers and messages withrespect to a plurality of persons concerned are stored in a storagesection in accordance with the classification of abnormality. Whenabnormality has occurred, a message corresponding to the classificationof the abnormality and a telephone number are selected from the messagesand telephone numbers with respect to the plurality of personsconcerned, so that the selected message is transmitted to a person ofthe selected telephone number.

Recently there are circumstances in which such an automatic analyzer ofthis type is large-sized so that a large number of samples are arrangedat the same time in the apparatus or one operator operates andsupervises a plurality of automatic analyzers of this typesimultaneously, for the purpose of analyzing a large number of samplesefficiently. In such circumstances, the operator cannot always stay inthe side of a specific apparatus, so that there arises a time in whichthe operator is apart from the apparatus side.

Accordingly, when abnormality has occurred in a certain automaticanalyzer in the case where one operator supervises a plurality ofautomatic analyzers, the operator must recognize the occurrence ofabnormality and must approach the apparatus in which abnormality hasoccurred. Accordingly, the abnormality is left for the time required forthe operator's recognizing the occurrence of abnormality and for thetime required for the operator's approaching the abnormal apparatus andstarting the work for recovering the abnormality.

Further, for example, in the case where addition of reagents is needed,the operator may go to a storehouse away from a room where the automaticanalyzer is placed or may do distributive sample suction and injectionwork in another working room to prepare for the next analysis. Even whenabnormality occurs in the automatic analyzer and an alarm sound forinforming of the abnormality is generated from a body of the apparatusin this case, a large time is required for the operator's recognizingthe abnormality so that the abnormality is left for the large time.

It is therefore convenient that the automatic analyzer operator cangrasp the analysis progressive state of the automatic analyzer timely ina remote place. For example, if the operator can grasp the fact thatonly one sample is not analyzed yet in case of occurrence of abnormalityin the automatic analyzer, the operator can continue the analysiswithout stopping the analysis operation. For example, if the operatorcan grasp the fact that a time not smaller than two hours will berequired until the next sample addition when the automatic analyzer isin a normal operation, the operator can carry out another work. Whensample addition will be required after about ten minutes from now, theoperator can stop the other work to prepare for the next analysis.

Further, abnormality of the automatic analyzer is diversified. Forexample, there are abnormality concerned with trouble of analysis dataof a patient or a subject to be tested, abnormality concerned withtrouble of calibration data, abnormality concerned with trouble ofcontrol data, abnormality concerned with abnormality of respective hardunits in the apparatus, abnormality concerned with trouble ofcommunication with a host CPU, etc.

The abnormality of the automatic analyzer is classified into abnormalitywhich can be dealt with by the operator and abnormality which cannot bedealt with by the operator. For example, it is said that abnormalitysuch as short supply of analysis reagents or analysis purified water, orthe like, is to be dealt with by the apparatus operator whereasabnormality concerned with trouble of calibration data or control datais to be dealt with not by the apparatus operator but by a person incharge of a room for clinical examinations because the abnormalitycontains important contents exerting an influence upon reliability onanalysis data of a patient. Further, abnormality of hard units is to bedealt with not by the apparatus operator and the person in charge of aroom for clinical examinations but by a person in charge of maintenanceof the apparatus.

Accordingly, in the case where abnormality to be dealt with by otherpersons in charge than the apparatus operator has occurred,conventionally, the apparatus operator must determine who is a personsuitable for dealing with the abnormality and must transmit theoccurrence of the abnormality to the person by any suitable means. As aresult, the operation of a plurality of automatic analyzers by theapparatus operator is interrupted so that the analysis efficiency of theautomatic analyzers is lowered.

It is therefore thought of that the supervising apparatus as describedin JP-A 2-52593, JP-A 59-109992 and JP-A 57-120115 is applied to theautomatic analyzer as described in JP-A 4-1570.

Even in the case where the supervising apparatus is applied to theautomatic analyzer, the occurrence of abnormality is however transmittedto respective persons in charge equally irrespective of the contents ofthe abnormality. Accordingly, the apparatus operator must stilldetermine the most suitable person in charge and must transmit theoccurrence of the abnormality to the person in the same manner asdescribed above, so that the analysis efficiency of the automaticanalyzer is lowered.

It is therefore thought of that the abnormality notification apparatusdescribed in JP-A 4-367098 is applied to the automatic analyzerdescribed in JP-A 4-1570. In this case, the occurrence of abnormalitycan be transmitted to the most suitable person in charge in accordancewith the contents of the abnormality but the most suitable person incharge cannot take proper measures unless the person informed of theoccurrence of the abnormality moves from the place where the person isinformed thereof to the place where the abnormal automatic analyzer isarranged. Accordingly, the analysis efficiency of the automatic analyzeris lowered by the time required for the movement.

An object of the present invention is to provide an automatic analyzerin which: a suitable transmission destination remote from a body of theautomatic analyzer is selected in accordance with contents to betransmitted so that the contents are transmitted to the selectedtransmission destination; a suitable operation control instruction isreceived from a suitable person in charge; and a suitable process iscarried out in accordance with the operation control instruction to makeit possible to improve analysis efficiency.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

To achieve the foregoing object, the present invention is configured asfollows.

An automatic analyzer for analyzing a sample such as blood, urine, orthe like, includes: a determining section for determining whether apredetermined state to be transmitted has occurred in a period of ananalyzing operation or not; a transmission destination discriminationsection for discriminating a predetermined transmission destinationlocated in a remote place from the automatic analyzer and apredetermined transmission message in accordance with the state whichhas occurred when the determining section makes a decision that thestate to be transmitted has occurred; a transmission section fortransmitting a signal expressing the transmission message; and areception section for receiving a command signal from the transmissiondestination and supplying the command signal to the determining section,so that the determining section controls the analyzing operation inaccordance with the command signal supplied by the reception section.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the signal transmitted to thetransmission destination by the transmission section is a wirelesssignal.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission destination isconstituted by a plurality of portable transceivers.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission sectiontransmits a signal expressing a predetermined transmission source codeas well as the signal expressing the transmission message.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, each of the portable transceiverspreferably includes a reception portion for receiving the signaltransmitted by the transmission section of the automatic analyzer, adisplay portion for displaying the message expressed by the receivedsignal, an operation portion for setting an operator's instruction, aninstruction signal generation portion for generating a signal expressingthe instruction set by the operation portion, and a transmission portionfor transmitting the signal generated by the instruction signalgeneration portion to the reception section of the automatic analyzer.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the determining section controlsthe analyzing operation in accordance with a predetermined instructionwhen the determining section does not receive the command signal fromthe transmission destination in a predetermined time after thetransmission message is transmitted by the transmission section.

Preferably, the automatic analyzer preferably further includes atransmission message setting section for setting a state to betransmitted and a transmission message in accordance with an operationby an operator, and a message storage section for storing thetransmission message set by the transmission message setting section forevery state to be transmitted.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission message settingsection further sets a destination of transmission of the transmissionmessage in accordance with the operation by the operator, and themessage storage section stores the transmission message and thetransmission destination for every state to be transmitted.

The automatic analyzer preferably further includes a display means fordisplaying the contents set by the message setting section.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the message displayed on thedisplay portion of the portable transceiver contains a codecorresponding to a state to be transmitted.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission section of theautomatic analyzer preferably transmits a signal indicating atransmission destination as well as the transmission message.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission destinationdiscrimination section discriminates the transmission destination andthe message indicating an operation progressive state whenever apredetermined process of the analysis operation is completed, and thetransmission section transmits the transmission destination and theoperation progressive state message discriminated by the transmissiondestination discrimination section whenever the predetermined process iscompleted.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission destinationdiscrimination section discriminates the transmission destination andthe message indicating an operation progressive state at intervals of apredetermined time, and the transmission section transmits a signalindicating the transmission destination and the operation progressivestate message discriminated by the transmission destinationdiscrimination section at intervals of the predetermined time.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission destinationdiscrimination section discriminates the transmission destination and apreliminarily set normal operation message whenever a predeterminedprocess of the analysis operation is completed, in the case where adecision is made by the determining section that there is no state to betransmitted, and the transmission section transmits a signal indicatingthe transmission destination and the normal operation messagediscriminated by the transmission destination discrimination sectionwhenever the predetermined process is completed, in the case where adecision is made by the determining section that there is no state to betransmitted.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the transmission destinationdiscrimination section discriminates the transmission destination and apredetermined normal operation message at intervals of a predeterminedtime, in the case where a decision is made by the determining sectionthat there is no state to be transmitted, and the transmission sectiontransmits a signal indicating the transmission destination and thenormal operation message discriminated by the transmission destinationdiscrimination section at intervals of the predetermined time, in thecase where a decision is made by the determining section that there isno state to be transmitted.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the state to be transmittedincludes an abnormal state of the automatic analyzer, the transmissiondestination discrimination section discriminates the transmissiondestination and a predetermined abnormality message whenever apredetermined process of the analysis operation is completed, in thecase where a decision is made by the determining section that theautomatic analyzer is in an abnormal state, and the transmission sectiontransmits a signal indicating the transmission destination and theabnormality message discriminated by the transmission destinationdiscrimination section whenever the predetermined process is completed,in the case where a decision is made by the determining section that theautomatic analyzer is in an abnormal state.

In the automatic analyzer, preferably, the state to be transmittedincludes an abnormal state of the automatic analyzer, the transmissiondestination discrimination section discriminates the transmissiondestination and a preliminarily set abnormality message at intervals ofa predetermined time, in the case where a decision is made by thedetermining section that the automatic analyzer is in an abnormal state,and the transmission section transmits a signal indicating thetransmission destination and the abnormality message discriminated bythe transmission destination discrimination section at intervals of thepredetermined time, in the case where a decision is made by thedetermining section that the automatic analyzer is in an abnormal state.

When a state to be transmitted, such as abnormality, or the like, occursin a period of an analysis operation of the automatic analyzer, theoccurrence of the state is determined by the determining section.Further, the transmission destination discrimination sectiondiscriminates a message indicating the occurrence of the state and atransmission destination located in a remote place where the message isto be transmitted. The transmission section transmits a signalindicating the message and the transmission destination thusdiscriminated. Upon reception of the message, a person in charge in thetransmission destination transmits an instruction signal to thereception section of the automatic analyzer in accordance with themessage. Upon reception of the instruction signal from the transmissiondestination, the reception section of the automatic analyzer suppliesthe received signal to the determining section. The determining sectioncontrols the operation of the automatic analyzer in accordance with thesupplied instruction signal. In this manner, a suitable operation iscarried out rapidly when an abnormal state occurs in a period of ananalysis operation, so that analysis operation interruption time can beshortened.

Further, in the case where the instruction signal is not received fromthe transmission destination in a predetermined time after thetransmission section of the automatic analyzer transmits a transmissionmessage, the determining section controls the analysis operation inaccordance with a preliminarily set instruction. In this manner, asuitable control operation can be carried out even in the case where anytrouble occurs in the transmission destination.

Further, the state to be transmitted, the transmission message and thetransmission destination are stored in the message storage section bythe transmission message setting section in accordance with theoperator's operation. In this manner, message transmission can becarried out in accordance with requests in respective facilities inwhich automatic analyzers are set up.

Further, the transmission destination discrimination sectiondiscriminates an operation progressive state message or a normaloperation message and a transmission destination whenever apredetermined process of an analysis operation is completed or atintervals of a predetermined time. A signal indicating the transmissiondestination and the operation progressive state message or the normaloperation message thus discriminated is transmitted by the transmittersection. In this manner, a person in charge in the transmissiondestination can recognize the progressive state of the analysisoperation, and so on.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is an overall schematic structural diagram of an embodiment ofthe present invention.

FIG. 2 is an exterior view of the embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of a control CPU in the embodimentof FIG. 1.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing schematic functional blocks and a flow ofinformation transmission in transceivers in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is an operational flow chart in the embodiment of FIG. 1.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of correspondence between alarmname, alarm code, message and transmission destination.

FIGS. 7A-C are a view showing examples of messages indicated on displayportions of the transceivers.

FIG. 8 is a view showing an example of a display screen for settingalarm messages and transmission destinations.

FIG. 9 is an operational flow chart in another embodiment of the presentinvention.

1 Chemistry unit of Automatic Analyzer

10 CPU bus

11 control CPU

11A operation control section

11B transmission destination and message setting section

11C storage section for storing messages for every transmissiondestination

11D transmission destination setting section

11E counter

11F answer-back discrimination section

12 LOG amplifier and A/D converter

13 memory

14 floppy disk drive

15 mechanism controller section

16 keyboard

17 reagent dispensing station

18 washing water supply

19 sampling station

20 photometer

21 washing mechanism

22 reaction disk

23 stirring mechanism

24 reagent pipetting mechanism

25 light source

26 reagent vessel

27 reagent disk

28 isothermal tank

29 sample disk

30 sample pipetting mechanism

35 reactor

36 CRT

37 printer

38 transmitter section

39 receiver section

40 transceiver (1)

41 sample vessel

42 transceiver (3)

44 transceiver (2)

40A, 42A, 44A receiver portion

40B, 42B, 44B message display portion

40C, 42C, 44C instruction signal generation portion

40D, 42D, 44D transmitter portion

40E, 42E, 44E operation portion

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of an embodiment of anautomatic analyzer according to the present invention, and FIG. 2 is anexterior view of the embodiment of FIG. 1.

In FIGS. 1 and 2, the automatic analyzer includes a control CPU (centralprocessing unit) 11, a LOG amplifier and an analog-to-digital (A/D)converter 12, a memory 13, a floppy disk drive 14, a keyboard 16, amechanism control section 15, a cathode ray tube (CRT) 36 for displayingmeasurement results, an operation screen, or the like, and a printer 37for printing measurement results, or the like. These constitutionalelements 12, 13, 14, 16, 15, 36 and 37 are connected to the CPU 11through a CPU bus 10.

The automatic analyzer further includes a sample disk 29 on which samplevessels 41 carrying samples to be analyzed are arranged a reaction disk22, a sample pipetting mechanism 30 for distributively injecting samplesfrom the sample vessels 41 into reactors 35 arranged on the reactiondisk 22, a reagent disk 27 on which reagent vessels 26 are arranged, anda reagent pipetting mechanism 24 for distributively injecting reagentsfrom the reagent vessels 26 into the reactors 35.

The automatic analyzer further includes a distributive sample suctionand injection mechanism 19 for sucking samples into the sample pipettingmechanism 30 and injecting the samples into the reactors 35, and adistributive reagent suction and injection mechanism 17 for suckingreagents and injecting the reagents into the reactors 35. The automaticanalyzer further includes a stirring mechanism 23 for stirring samplesand reagents placed in the reactors 35, a photometer 20 for measuringthe change of absorbance of reagents and samples reacted, a light source25 therefor, a thermostat or isothermal tank 28 for keeping the reactors35 isothermal or at a constant temperature, a washing mechanism 21 forcleaning the reactors 35 in which analysis is completed, and a washingwater supply 18 for supplying cleaning water to the washing mechanism 21and sucking in waste fluid.

The automatic analyzer further includes a transmitter section 38 bywhich information given by the control CPU 11 through the CPU bus 10 istransmitted through wireless to a transceiver 40, 42 or 44, and areceiver section 39 for receiving an instruction signal from thetransceiver 40, 42 or 44 and supplying the instruction signal to the CPU11 through the CPU bus 10. The transceivers 40, 42 and 44 includemessage display portions 40B, 42B and 44B, and operation portions 40E,42E and 44E, respectively. These transceivers 40, 42 and 44 are small insize so as to be portable, so that different persons on duty carry thesereceivers, respectively. For example, the transceiver (1) 40 is carriedby an apparatus operator, the transceiver (2) 44 is carried by a personin charge of test data, and the transceiver (3) 42 is carried by aperson in charge of apparatus maintenance.

In ordinary analysis, samples are placed in the sample vessels 41 andset on the sample disk 29. The samples in the sample vessels 41 aresucked in by the sample pipetting mechanism 30 and the sampling station19 and injected into the reactors 35. Then, necessary reagents aredistributively injected into the reactors 35 from the reagent vessels 26on the reagent disk 27 by the reagent pipetting mechanism 24 and thereagent dispensing station 17. Then, samples and reagents in thereactors 35 are stirred by the stirring mechanism 23 and reacted witheach other.

The thus reacted samples in the reactors 35 are measured by thephotometer 20, then measurement results are digitized by the LOGamplifier and A/D converter 12 and fetched into the memory 13 throughthe CPU bus 10. All these operations are controlled by the control CPU11, so that analysis results are subjected to an arithmetic operationprocess and stored in a floppy disk 14 and, at the same time, analysisresults are displayed on the CRT display 36 and printed by the printer37.

FIG. 3 is a functional block diagram of the control CPU 11.

In FIG. 3, an operation control section 11A not only controls theaforementioned sample measurement operation but also determines whetherthere is any failure in each section of the automatic analyzer or not.When the operation control section determines that there is any failure,a signal indicating the contents of the failure is supplied to adestination setting section 11D. The transmission destination settingsection 11D extracts a transmission destination and a messagecorrespondingly to the thus supplied contents of the failure from atransmission destination and message storage section 11C in whichmessages classified by transmission destinations are stored. In thestorage section 11C for storing messages for every transmissiondestination, the transmission destinations, that is, transceivers 40, 42and 44, and the messages for every content of failure are set and storedin advance by a transmission destination and message setting section11B.

The message picked out from the storage section 11C is supplied,together with a transmission destination code (ID code) indicating atransmission destination, to the transmitter section 38 from thetransmission destination setting section 11D. Then, a signal indicatingthe transmission destination code and the message is sent out from thetransmitter section 38. When the signal is sent out from the transmittersection 38, a counting start signal is supplied to a counter 11E fromthe transmitter section 38.

When the counter 11E starts counting (counting the passage of time), ananswer-back discrimination section 11F monitors the content of thecounter 11E and at the same time monitors whether any reception signalis supplied from the receiver section 39 or not. When the count value ofthe counter 11E reaches a predetermined value or not when any receptionsignal is supplied from the receiver section 39, a corresponding signalis supplied to the operation control section 11A. The operation controlsection 11A controls the operation of the automatic analyzer inaccordance with the signal supplied from the answer-back discriminationsection 11F.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing schematic functional blocks and a flow ofinformation in the transceivers 40, 42 and 44. The transceivers 40, 42and 44 include the receiver portions 40A, 42A and 44A, message displayportions 40B, 42B and 44B, instruction signal generation portions 40C,42C and 44C, and transmitter portions 40D, 42D and 44D, respectively.

The transmitter section 38 sends out a signal indicating an alarm code(message code), ID codes (ID code for identifying the automatic analyzerand ID code for identifying the transceiver), the number of the samplein which sampling is completed, and so on. Each of the receiver portions40A, 42A and 44A of the transceivers 40, 42 and 44 determines whetherthe received ID code is coincident with the ID code registered in thereceiver portion or not. When the received ID code is coincident withthe registered ID code, the received signal is supplied to the messagedisplay portion. When, for example, the ID code is coincident with theID code for identifying the transceiver 40, the receiver section 40Asupplies the received signal to the message display portion 40B. Themessage display portion 40B displays a message corresponding to thealarm code. At the same time, the transceiver 40 generates a receptionsound (from a reception sound generation portion which is not shown).

When the apparatus operator has confirmed the reception sound, theoperator operates the operation portion to make a suitable instruction.This is performed by operating a key indicating an instruction codecorresponding to the operation since instructions and instruction codescorresponding thereto are set in advance in the operation portion. Whena key indicating an instruction code corresponding to the instruction isoperated, the instruction signal generation portion 40C supplies asignal corresponding to the instruction code corresponding to theoperated key to the transmitter portion 40D. Then, the transmitterportion 40D sends out a signal indicating the ID code for identifyingthe automatic analyzer to which the signal is to be transmitted and thecontents of the instruction such as instruction to continue analysis,instruction to stop sampling, instruction to stop the operation of theapparatus, instruction to stop the buzzer sound of the analyzer,instruction to switching on/off the electric power source of theanalyzer, or the like.

Upon reception of the signal sent out from the transmitter portion 40D,the receiver section 39 determines whether the automatic analyzer IDcode contained in the reception signal is coincident with the ID codefor identifying its own apparatus or not. When it is determined thatthese ID codes are coincident with each other, the received signal issupplied to the control CPU 11. Then, the control CPU 11 controls theoperation of the automatic analyzer mechanism section 2 in accordancewith the signal given from the receiver section 39.

FIG. 5 is a flow chart used for explaining the operation of the CPU 11shown in FIG. 3.

In step 100 in FIG. 5, the operation control section 11A controls ananalysis operation and at the same time determines whether an alarm isto be generated or not (a state to be transmitted has occurred or not),that is, whether there is no occurrence of abnormality. When it isdetermined that there is no occurrence of abnormality, the processreturns to the step 100. When it is determined that abnormality hasoccurred in the step 100, the transmission destination setting section11D determines whether the alarm is an alarm to be transmitted to atransceiver located in a remote place or not in step 101. If it isdetermined that the alarm is not an alarm to be transmitted, the processreturns to the step 100. If it is determined in the step 101 that thealarm is an alarm to be transmitted, the process proceeds to step 102 inwhich the transmission destination setting section 11D searches thestorage section 11C to extract a transmission destination (located in aremote place) and a message to be transmitted.

In the next step 103, the transmission destination setting section 11Dmakes the transmitter section 38 send out a signal indicating the IDcode (transmission source code) for identifying the automatic analyzerto which the transmission destination setting section 11D itselfbelongs, the ID code for identifying the transmission destination andthe transmission message and, at the same time, makes the counter 11Estart counting. Succeedingly, in step 104, the answer-backdiscrimination section 11F determines whether the answer-back signal hasbeen received by the receiver section 39 or not. When it is determinedthat the answer-back signal has not been received yet, the processproceeds to step 106 in which the count value of the counter 11E isconfirmed.

Then, in step 107, the answer-back discrimination section 11F determineswhether the count value of the counter 11E reaches a set value or not,that is, whether or not a set time has passed after the transmittersection 38 transmitted a signal. When it is determined that the set timehas not passed yet, the process returns to the step 104. When it isdetermined in the step 107 that the set time has passed, the processproceeds to step 108. In the step 108, the answer-back discriminationsection 11F transmits to the operation control section 11A the fact thatthe answer-back signal could be not received though the set time haspassed.

Then, the operation control section 11A makes the automatic analyzeroperate in accordance with a preliminarily set instruction. That is,when, for example, the abnormality is a failure in the printer, theanalysis is terminated or continued after the fact that the printer isabnormal is stored in the memory. Then, the process returns to the step100. When in the step 104 it is determined that the answer-back signalhas been received, the process proceeds to step 105 in which theoperation control section 11A makes the automatic analyzer operate onthe basis of the answer-back signal. Then, the process returns to thestep 100.

FIG. 6 is a view showing an example of messages stored in the storagesection 11C for storing messages for every transmission destination. InFIG. 6, alarm names (abnormality names) and codes, messages andtransmission destinations corresponding to the alarm names are shown. Itis to be understood from FIG. 6 that suitable persons in charge vary inaccordance with the contents of abnormality. Although FIG. 6 shows thecase where abnormality to be transmitted to the person in charge of testdata includes no abnormality but abnormality of calibration data andabnormality of control data, all abnormality to be transmitted to theoperator and the person in charge of maintenance may be transmitted tothe person in charge of test data.

Further, the completion of distributive sample suction and injection andthe completion of analysis are described as alarm names in FIG. 6 but itis a matter of course that these do not indicate abnormal operations.That is, FIG. 6 shows the fact that these messages are transmitted totransceivers in the same manner as abnormal operations.

FIG. 7A-C shows examples of messages displayed on the message displayportions 40B, 42B and 44B of the transceivers 40, 42 and 44 whichreceive alarms or the like transmitted by automatic analyzers.

FIG. 7A shows the case where the fact that shortage of reagents,abnormality of calibration data and failure in stirring mechanism haveoccurred in the condition in which sampling of sample number 83 has beencompleted is transmitted to the person in charge of data from anautomatic analyzer A. FIG. 7B shows the case where the fact thatshortage of samples has occurred in the condition in which sampling ofsample number 115 has been completed is transmitted to the apparatusoperator from an automatic analyzer B.

FIG. 7C shows the case where the fact that failure in reaction table hasoccurred is transmitted to the person in charge of maintenance from anautomatic analyzer A and, at the same time, the fact that failure insample syringe has occurred is transmitted to the person in charge ofmaintenance from an automatic analyzer B.

The case where the transceiver 44 receives abnormality of calibrationdata for the person in charge of test data will be described now by wayof example.

Abnormality of calibration data is classified into a calibration curvegeneration impossible alarm (code 2-A in FIG. 6) generated whencalculation is made impossible in the middle of a calibration arithmeticoperation, an alarm (code 2-B) generated when a plurality of measuredvalues of calibration data vary widely, an alarm (code 2-C) generatedwhen the difference between the previous calibration value and thecurrent calibration value is larger than an allowable set value, and anabnormal sensitivity alarm (code 2-D) generated when the sensitivity ofcalibration is lower than an allowable set value.

The case of transmission of an alarm indicated by code 2-A means thefact that calibration did not succeed with respect to a certain item ofanalysis items subjected to calibration. Accordingly, it is necessarythat the person in charge of test data instructs the apparatus operatorto retry calibration with respect to the failure item or retry toexamine a general patient subject to be tested with respect to analysisitems concerned.

In the case of execution of a plurality of analyses, calibration for allanalysis items do not always fail. Accordingly, because there is nonecessity of immediately stopping the operation of the apparatus inwhich abnormality of calibration data has occurred, an instruction tocontinue analysis is transmitted to the receiver section 39 of anautomatic analyzer by operating the transceiver 44. Upon reception ofthis instruction, the control CPU 11 of the automatic analyzer continuethe operation of the automatic analyzer.

In the case where an alarm indicated by code 2-B is transmitted,reliability of data at the time of the generation of a calibration curvecomes into a problem. From the point of view of data, analysis for otheranalysis items than the analysis item in which a problem has occurredmay be executed without any special trouble or a problem may be causedby a sudden failure in a part of analysis data. Accordingly, the personin charge of test data operates the transceiver 44 so that aninstruction signal to continue the operation of the apparatus istransmitted to the receiver section 39 of the automatic analyzer. Whenthe receiver section 39 receives the instruction signal from thetransceiver 44, the control CPU 11 of the automatic analyzer continuesthe analysis operation of the apparatus.

In this case, the person in charge of test data immediately confirmscalibration data on the analyzer. When the cause of abnormality of datais clear so that a determination is made that analysis can be continuedwithout hindrance, the previous instruction is continued. On thecontrary, when the confirmation of data results in a conclusion thatthere is some hindrance in continuation of analysis, an instruction isgiven to the apparatus operator to retry calibration with respect toitems concerned or retry examinations with respect to analysis itemsconcerned. Further, because there is much possibility that bubbles orthe like are apt to be mixed in the flow path of the apparatus, aninstruction is given to the apparatus operator to carry out cleaning ofthe flow path sufficiently after the stopping of the apparatus.

In the case where an alarm indicated by code 2-C is transmitted, acalibration curve is generated on the basis of a determination as towhether there is any condition different from conditions in the previouscase. In the case where the cause of abnormality is clear so that adetermination is made that analysis can be continued without hindrance,such as the case where newly prepared reagents are used, the case wherea reference solution having a concentration different from that in theprevious case is used, or the like, the person in charge of test dataoperates the transceiver 44 to transmit an instruction signal to thereceiver section 39 of the automatic analyzer to continue the analysiswithout any change. When the receiver section 39 receives theinstruction signal, the control CPU 11 of the automatic analyzercontinues the analysis operation.

When the cause is not clear contrariwise to the aforementioned case,there is occurrence of somewhat trouble in the generated calibrationcurve. Also in this case, the person in charge of test data transmits aninstruction signal to the automatic analyzer to continue the operationof the apparatus without any change. At the same time, the person incharge of test data examines the cause of the trouble.

The transmission of an alarm indicated by code 2-D means the fact thatthere is no reliability on the generated calibration curve. The personin charge of test data operates the transceiver 44 to transmit aninstruction signal to the automatic analyzer to continue the operationof the apparatus without any change. Because a determination is howevermade that there is any hindrance to continuation of analysis for itemsconcerned, the person in charge of test data prepares reagents,reference solutions, and so on, newly and then gives an instruction tothe apparatus operator to try calibration for items concerned or retryexaminations for analysis items concerned.

Even in the case where any one of the aforementioned alarms isgenerated, the person in charge of test data may operate the transceiver44 to transmit an instruction signal to the receiver section 39 to stopthe operation of the automatic analyzer if a determination is made thatthere is any hindrance to continuation of analysis in the condition inwhich analysis for a single analysis item is carried out. When theinstruction signal is received by the receiver section 39, the controlCPU 11 stops the analysis operation.

Further, after confirmation of occurrence of a trouble in the apparatuson the basis of alarm indication on the transceiver 40, the apparatusoperator located in a remote place from the automatic analyzer stops thealarm (buzzer sound) of the body of the automatic analyzer by using thetransceiver while the apparatus operator stays in the remote place.Alternatively, the apparatus operator may give an instruction to thebody of the automatic analyzer by using the transceiver 40 so that theanalysis is continued regardless of the generation of an alarm until theapparatus operator arrives at the automatic analyzer side.

Further, the apparatus operator can stop the operation of the body ofthe automatic analyzer or can switch off the electric source of the bodyof the automatic analyzer from a remote place as an emergencycountermeasure immediately after the confirmation of the generation ofan alarm without the necessity of confirmation of the state of theautomatic analyzer. Further, because the apparatus operator can switchon the electric source of the body of the automatic analyzer from aremote place by using the transceiver 40, the electric source of thebody of the automatic analyzer can be switched on immediately after thedetermination of the starting of analysis without waiting for theoperator's actual arrival at the apparatus side. Accordingly, becausesteady-state preparation work such as heating of the reaction isothermaltank, preparatory cleaning of the reactors, priming of syringes andpipettes, and so on, prepared for the starting of the operation of theapparatus can be completed automatically into a standby state before theoperator's arrival at the analyzer, the analyzing work can be carriedout immediately after the operator's arrival.

With respect to the person in charge of maintenance, like the person incharge of test data and the apparatus operator, a suitable instructionsignal for stopping the buzzer sound, switching off the electric sourceof the apparatus, or the like, is transmitted to the automatic analyzeron the basis of the contents displayed on the transceiver 42.

With respect to the contents to be transmitted to the transceiver 40, 42or 44 from the automatic analyzer, requests may vary in accordance withfacilities such as hospitals, test centers, research laboratories, andso on. For example, in the case of a facility in which an automaticanalyzer having an attachment for electrolytic analysis is installed,alarms (alarm codes 23 and 24 shown in FIG. 6) for abnormality of dataconcerned with electrolytic analysis and for abnormality caused by theattachment are required. On the contrary, in the case of a facility inwhich an automatic analyzer having no attachment for electrolyticanalysis is installed, the aforementioned alarms are not required.Further, there may be considered the case where only one transceiver isprovided initially to receive all messages and then transceivers areprovided additionally.

In an embodiment of the present invention, therefore, transmissionalarms corresponding to the contents of abnormality of the automaticanalyzer and transmission destinations thereof can be set in accordancewith the facility as occasion demands.

That is, in FIG. 3, a signal indicating a transmission alarm, an alarmcode and a transmission destination is supplied to the control CPU 11through the CPU bus 10 from a keyboard or the like by the operator. Thesignal indicating the transmission alarm, alarm code and transmissiondestination supplied to the CPU 11 is supplied to the section 11B inwhich messages are set for every transmission destination, through theoperation control section 11A. The section 11B for setting messages forevery transmission destination causes the transmission destinationmessage storage section 11C to store the transmission message, alarmcode and transmission destination thus supplied.

FIG. 8 shows an example of an operation screen displayed on the CRT 36in the case where the transmission message, alarm code and transmissiondestination are to be set.

In FIG. 8, "CODE" represents an alarm code, "INDICATE" represents amessage displayed on a transceiver, and "RECEIVER" represents an ID codefor identifying the transceiver. In this example, ID code "1" indicatesa transceiver for an apparatus operator, ID code "2" indicates atransceiver for a person in charge of test data, and ID code "3"indicates a transceiver for a person in charge of maintenance of theapparatus. Incidentally, correspondence between the alarm codes and thecontents of abnormality is stored in the storage section 11C in advance.In addition, the ID code for identifying the transceiver can be set byoperating an operation portion (not shown) of the transceiver.

In this manner, necessary messages and transmission destinations can beset in accordance with the facility in which an automatic analyzer isinstalled. Further, the invention can be applied to the case where thereis no transceiver or only one transceiver required initially after theinstallation of the automatic analyzer and then transceivers areprovided additionally.

As described above, according to an embodiment of the present invention,not only a suitable transmission destination remote from a body of theautomatic analyzer is selected in accordance with the contents (thecontents of abnormality and the progressive state of the operation) tobe transmitted so that the contents are transmitted to the selectedtransmission destination, but also a suitable operation controlinstruction is received from a suitable person in charge. Accordingly, asuitable control operation can be carried out rapidly so that theanalysis operation interruption time can be shortened. Thus, anautomatic analyzer improved in analyzing efficiency can be provided.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, messagesto be transmitted and transmission destinations can be set arbitrarily.Accordingly, necessary messages and transmission destinations can be setin accordance with the facility in which an automatic analyzer isinstalled. Further, the invention can be applied to the case where thereis no transceiver or only one transceiver required initially after theinstallation of the automatic analyzer and then transceivers areprovided additionally.

Further, according to an embodiment of the present invention, theanalyzing operation is controlled in accordance with a preliminarily setinstruction when there is no instruction signal received from atransmission destination within a predetermined time after thetransmitter section of the automatic analyzer transmits a transmissionmessage to the transmission destination. Accordingly, even in the casewhere a trouble has occurred in the transmission destination, a suitablecontrol operation can be carried out.

FIG. 9 is an operational flow chart of another embodiment of the presentinvention. The structure of the embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is the sameas that shown in FIGS. 1 to 4 and the description thereof will beomitted.

The embodiment shown in FIG. 9 is substantially equal to the embodimentshown in FIG. 5, except that the flow chart of FIG. 9 is formed byadding steps 109 to 112 to the flow chart of FIG. 5.

In step 100 in FIG. 9, the operation control section 11A determineswhether abnormality has occurred in the automatic analyzer or not. Whenit is determined that there is no occurrence of abnormality, the processproceeds to step 109. In the step 109, the operation control section 11Adetermines whether one operation of the automatic analyzer body has beencompleted or not. The one operation means, for example, an operation ofinjecting a sample into a reactor or an operation of injecting a reagentinto a reactor. When it is determined that the one operation has notbeen completed yet, that is, when the one operation is in execution, theprocess returns to the step 100.

When in the step 109 it is determined that the one operation has beencompleted, the process proceeds to step 110. In the step 110, theoperation control section 11A supplies an instruction signal to thetransmission destination setting section 11D to select a normaloperation message (not only indicating the fact that the operation isnormal but also indicating the progressive state of the operation)stored in the storage section 11C in advance. In the next step 111, thetransmission destination setting section 11D discriminates the normaloperation message stored in the storage section 11C in advance, on thebasis of the transmission destination.

Succeedingly, in step 112, a signal indicating the ID code foridentifying the transceiver of the transmission destination, the ID codefor identifying the automatic analyzer of the transmission source andthe message indicating the fact that the operation is normal is sent outfrom the transmitter section 38. Then, the process returns to the step100.

Upon reception of the normal operation message signal, the transceivergenerates a sound different from the sound generated at the time of theoccurrence of abnormality. Then, a message indicating the fact that theoperation is normal is displayed on the display portion of thetransceiver. In this case, messages which vary in accordance with theoperations can be displayed so that the progressive state of theoperation can be indicated.

As described above, according to the other embodiment of the presentinvention, the same effect as in the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 can beobtained.

Furthermore, according to the other embodiment of the present invention,because the fact that the automatic analyzer is normal is transmitted toa transceiver located remotely so that a message not only indicating thefact that the operation is normal but also indicating the progressivestate of the operation is generated, respective persons in chargelocated in remote places can monitor analysis progress information (canrecognize the fact the analyzing operation is in progress normally).

Although the invention is configured so that a determination is made inthe step 109 of the embodiment in FIG. 9 as to whether one operation hasbeen completed or not, the invention may be configured so that adetermination is made as to whether a predetermined time instead of oneoperation has passed or not. That is, the invention can be configured sothat messages are displayed on the transceiver at intervals of apredetermined time as long as the analyzing operation is normal.

Further, in the aforementioned embodiment, the transceiver can performtransmission/reception in one facility such as a hospital, or the like,in which the automatic analyzer is installed.

Further, the signal exchange between the transmitter/receiver section ofthe automatic analyzer and each transceiver may be performed by wire orby wireless. In the case where the signal exchange is performed bywireless, infrared rays or the like can be used besides electric wave.

Further, in the embodiment in FIG. 5, a request to transmit theprogressive state of the operation may be transmitted to the automaticanalyzer side from the transceiver side so that the progressive state ofthe operation can be transmitted to the transceiver from the automaticanalyzer side in accordance with the request.

Further, in the case where the unmanned operation of the automaticanalyzer is to be carried out at midnight or the like, the invention maybe configured so that the persons in charge carry portable receiversusing telephone circuits and exclusively used for reception, besides theaforementioned transceivers.

Although the aforementioned embodiments show the case where threetransceivers are used, the invention can be applied to the case whereone transceiver, two transceivers or four or more transceivers are used.

The present invention configured as described above has the followingeffects.

Not only a suitable transmission destination remote from the body of theautomatic analyzer is selected in accordance with the contents to betransmitted so that the contents are transmitted to the selectedtransmission destination, but also a suitable operation controlinstruction is received from a suitable person in charge. As a result, asuitable control operation is carried out rapidly so that the analyzingoperation interruption time can be shortened. Thus, an automaticanalyzer improved in analyzing efficiency can be provided.

Further, a determining section controls the analyzing operation inaccordance with a predetermined instruction when there is no instructionsignal received from a transmission destination within a predeterminedtime after the transmitter section of the automatic analyzer transmits atransmission message to the transmission destination. Accordingly, evenin the case where a trouble has occurred in the transmissiondestination, a suitable control operation can be carried out.

Further, states to be transmitted and transmission messages are storedin the message storage section by the transmission message settingsection in accordance with the operator's operation. Accordingly,message transmission can be performed in accordance with requests fromrespective facilities in which automatic analyzers are installed.

Further, the transmission destination discrimination sectiondiscriminates the normal operation message (abnormality message) and thetransmission destination whenever a predetermined process of theanalyzing operation is completed or at intervals of a predeterminedtime. A signal indicating the transmission destination and the normaloperation message (abnormality message) thus discriminated is sent outfrom the transmitter section. Accordingly, the person in charge in thetransmission destination can recognize the fact that the analyzingoperation is in progress normally or the fact that abnormality hasoccurred.

What is claimed is:
 1. An automatic analyzer communication system foruse with an automatic analyzer, the system comprising:an automaticanalyzer; a central processing unit; an operational control sectionwhich controls the operation of sample measurements performed by theautomatic analyzer, monitors the progressive state of analysis, anddetects the occurrence of an abnormality in the automatic analyzer; amessage setting section which retrieves a transmission messagecorresponding to the type of abnormality detected by the operationalcontrol section, said transmission message being retrieved from atransmission message storage section in response to a signal from theoperational control section, wherein said transmission message storagesection comprises at least one transmission message classified bytransmission destination and electronically stored; a transmissiondestination setting section which retrieves a transmission destinationfrom a transmission destination storage section wherein everytransmission destination and type of abnormality detected by theoperational control system are stored, and which is responsive to thetransmission message retrieved by the message setting section; atransmitter which transmits a signal responsive to the retrievedtransmission destination and the transmission message retrieved by themessage setting section in response to the type of abnormality detectedby the operational control section, the signal having an alarm code, ananalyzer identification code and a transceiver identification code; atransceiver, having a registered identification code, which receives thesignal from the transmitter if the transceiver identification code iscoincident with the registered identification code, the transceiverfurther comprising: a display which displays a message corresponding tothe alarm code, a means for selecting an instruction code from aplurality of predetermined instruction codes, and a means fortransmitting a signal responsive to the selected instruction code andthe analyzer identification code; a receiver which receives the signalfor the transceiver; an answer-back discrimination section incommunication with the receiver, the answer-back discrimination sectionbeing responsive to the analyzer identification code, wherein theanswer-back discrimination section provides the selected instructionreceived from the transceiver to the operational control section whichcauses the analyzer to operate in accordance therewith, and provides aset time passed signal to the analyzer which causes the analyzer tooperate in accordance therewith if a counter indicates a set time periodhas lapsed since the transmission of the transmission message.